WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.--Two individuals and a Distance Medley Relay team of four men leave for Indiana today in hopes of capping of their season with great performances at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. DePauw University, situated in Greencastle, IN, is set to host the D-III Championship.
Connor Kamm '10 and Tomas Kearney '12 comprise the two individual athletes. Kamm is entered to run in the mile and is currently seeded 8th out of 12 athletes. A string of four consecutive strong performances indicates that he is more than ready to take on the nation's best Division III milers this weekend. His 4:11 mile at Boston University a couple of weeks ago demonstrates that he has the speed necessary to make a splash when he races on Friday in the preliminaries and Saturday, provided he qualifies, in the finals.
Middle-distance Coach Mitchell Baker had this to say about Kamm: "Connor has as much of a chance as anyone to make the final in the mile. He has been training and racing with confidence and savvy the past six weeks, a pleasant surprise after an up-and-down career on the track. It's difficult to combine high-quality training and racing at the same time, but he's balanced his health and race scenarios extremely well. If he's able to stay relaxed, focused, and make assertive moves when needed in the preliminary round at this, his first, NCAA, he'll be able to walk away from the weekend with a great deal learned no matter the outcome."
Kearney's triple jump performance at the Division III Championships at Bates College several weeks ago will undoubtedly go down as one of the best set of triple jumps in Eph history. To recap, Kearney set a personal best mark six different times in that meet, including earning a NCAA provisional qualifier and then NCAA automatic qualifier on consecutive jumps. Kearney is ranked 2nd of 12 competitors in the triple jump. The only man he trails is the only person to beat him at the Division III Championships, Stephen Morton of M.I.T. This Saturday is the perfect opportunity for redemption.
Finally, the Ephs are sending a Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team to DePauw, and a fast one at that. Coach Baker once again breaks down the prospects of the relay unit: At this point, we will keep the Distance-Medley Relay (DMR) athletes at the same positions used when we qualified last weekend: Brian Cole '11 leading off in the 1200-meters, Jabulani Blyden '13 running second in the 400-meters, Edgar Kosgey '10 running third in the 800-meters, and Connor Kamm '10 running fourth in the 1600-meters. Since Connor's mile preliminary is roughly two hours prior to the DMR - the DMR is run as a final; there is no preliminary round - we expect him to bounce back and remain the fourth runner. Fortunately, Cole and Kosgey are both accomplished at the 800, 1200, and 1600 distances, so we have some flexibility depending on how hard Kamm runs in the preliminary of the mile. They should be competitive and have confidence after running the fastest DMR on a flat track in Williams history."
Coach Baker went on to explain the overall team outlook for the meet: “The name of the game is to equal your qualifying marks and you, or your relay, will probably reach All-American status and score points. This allows us to go in to DePauw University attempting to do what we did in the regular season rather than press for something Herculean."
Look for results and a post-meet writeup immediately following the events.
Connor has as much of a chance as anyone to make the final in the
mile. He has been training and racing with confidence and savvy the
past six weeks, a pleasant surprise after an up-and-down career on the
track. It's difficult to combine high-quality training and racing at
the same time, but he's balanced his health and race scenarios
extremely well. If he's able to stay relaxed, focused, and make
assertive moves when needed in the preliminary round at this, his
first, NCAA, he'll be able to walk away from the weekend with a great
deal learned no matter the outcome.
